Knitting point guard



July 17, 1934. e. A. CARLSON KNITTING POINT GUARD Filed Oct. 13, 1932 V LV @N WW MN VN Patented July 17, 1934 PATENT OFFICE KNITTING POINT GUARD Gustav A. Carlson, Chicago, 111., assignor to The Boye Needle Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application October 13, 1932, Serial No. 637,646

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a point guard and more particularly to a guard for the point of a knitting pin or the like.

A defect in guards heretofore employed for this purpose is that they were adapted for use with only one or two sizes of points, and when used on larger sizes of points, tended to yield and to lose their flexibility. Another defect is that the guards did not protect the tips of the points so as to prevent them from injuring the bag in which the work was carried, etc. An object of the present invention is to provide a guard adapted to fit a large range of point sizes without injuring the resilient qualities of the guard and at the same time to provide a guard adapted to enclose and protect the point tips. Other objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is illustrated, in a preferred embodiment, by the accompanying drawing, in Which- Fig. 1 is a plan view of a knitting pin having one point equipped with a guard embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a side view in elevation of the guard; Fig. 3, a front end View; Fig. 4, a detail sectional view, the section being taken as indicated at line 4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a rear end sectional view, the section being taken as indicated at line 5 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 6, a plan view of a prepared blank from which the guard is formed.

In the illustration given, A and A designate points which are connected by the flexible cable B to form a knitting pin. C designates a guard engaging the point A.

The guard C is preferably formed from a prepared blank 10 as illustrated in Fig. 6, the strip being folded over at the point indicated by the dotted line 11. The blank 10 is provided with spaced recesses 12 on opposite sides of the line 11 and with channel grooves 13 which become deeper as they reach the outer edges of the blank 10. Preferably, the blank is provided with locking lugs 14. In forming the guard, the strip is folded over at the line 11 and the portions adjacent the line are bent together to form a substantially fiat head 15, the recesses 12 providing a central groove in the head. The arms 16 and 17 provided by the remainder of the blank are preferably turned almost at right angles to each other at the point 18 where they join the head 15. From the point 18, the arms taper forwardly and inwardly. In order to lock the portions of the strip forming the head 15, the lugs 14 on the arm 17 are bent around the adjacent portion of the arm 16 and clamped thereagainst.

In the operation of the guard, it is only necessary to insert the point into the channel afforded by the grooves 13, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5, and urge the point forward until the tip thereof engages the groove or channel 12. Within the groove or channel 12, the tip of the point is gripped while the point to the rear of the tip is gripped by the resilient arms 16 and 1'7. The clamping action of the guard at these two places serves to maintain the points firmly within the guard. To release the guard, the guard C and the point A are grasped and the point A withdrawn.

With the construction illustrated, it will be observed that the flat head 15 gives rigidity to the structure and added gripping power to the arms 16 and 17. At the same time, the spreading of the arms 16 and 1'? at their point of junction with the head 15 and the tapering of the arms inwardly adapts the guard to receive points of widely varying diameters. The tip of the point is at all times sheltered within the groove 12 and is prevented from injuring the work or the bag in which the work is carried. The relatively wide shoulders 19 afforded by the arms 16 and 17, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5, serve to maintain the work upon the knitting pin when the work is put away.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible, in view of the prior art.

I claim:

1. A point protector for a knitting pin comprising an integral bend and two clasping arms formed integral therewith, said bend having portions swaged together to form a rigid head with a longitudinal groove centrally disposed therein, said groove being adapted to receive and frictionally engage the extreme end portion of a knitting pin point, and means for locking said head portion together comprising lugs formed integral with one of the arms and bent about the other.

2. A point protector for a knitting pin comprising resilient arms connected by an integral bend, said bend having portions thereof brought together to form a substantially fiat head, said head being provided centrally with a longitudinal groove adapted to receive and frictionally engage the extreme end portion of a knitting pin point and said resilient arms being adapted to engage a body portion of the point.

3. A point protector for a knitting pin comprising resilient arms connected by an integral bend, said bend having portions thereof brought together to form a substantially flat head, said head 5 being provided centrally with a longitudinal groove adapted to receive and frictionally engage the extreme end portion of a knitting pin 

